111: Chapter 111 The First Emperor
Ding-dong!
【 Attention! 】
【 Attention! 】
【 The River of Time is in chaos; the host will be teleported to a random time period. 】
Qin Xiaogan stood alone in the endless void, his eyes indifferent, as if nothing in the world could cause the slightest ripple in his heart.
Then, a faint blue glimmer appeared beside him, like a firefly in the dark night—faint, yet remarkably eye-catching.
This glimmer gradually intensified, enveloping Qin Xiaogan's figure.
Soon, his figure vanished within this light.
Great Xia Empire, some devastated ruins.
"Who are you?!" Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi gripped his longsword tightly, his eyes wide and filled with vigilance as he stared at the monk opposite him.
His arm trembled slightly from excessive tension, and the sword blade flashed with a cold light under the sun.
"The Old Monk, if you dare to take another step forward, I will cut you down!" Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi roared.
The Old Monk remained silent, merely bowing slowly toward Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi: "Amitabha."
His face wore a calm that transcended the mortal world, as if he were completely indifferent to Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi's threat.
"Benefactor, please look at what I hold in my hand, but please ensure you maintain your composure after seeing it."
As The Old Monk spoke, he took an object emitting a green light from his robe.
Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi frowned, his eyes filled with suspicion and vigilance, but he couldn't help but look at what was in The Old Monk's hand.
The item was ordinary, just a recording stone, but the content inside was...
When Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi finished viewing the content, his face instantly turned deathly pale, and his body swayed involuntarily.
"This... how is this possible?" Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi muttered to himself, his hand gripping the longsword gradually loosening.
The Old Monk sighed softly and said: "Benefactor, all things in the world have cause and effect; everything is within the arrangement of fate."
Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi raised his head, his eyes filled with confusion and pain: "I killed my own parents with my own hands..."
"Killed the parents who tried to save me?!"
The Old Monk pressed his palms together: "Benefactor, let go of your obsession to find liberation."
Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi was silent for a long time; time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Suddenly, he laughed up at the sky: "Hahahaha, I followed him and killed so many people, so many people..." The laughter was shrill and sorrowful, as if he wanted to vent all the pain in his heart.
"Wuwuwu, parents." Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi crouched down his thin body, his shoulders trembling violently, tears gushing out like a breached dam.
His sobbing echoed in these ruins, filled with endless regret and pain.
The Old Monk's face was filled with compassion, a look that seemed to encompass all the sins and pain in the world.
He said gently: "If the Emperor dies, everything changes, everything exists, everything passes."
His voice was like a distant bell toll, echoing in the empty ruins, carrying an indescribable depth and mystery.
Hearing this, Sword Cultivator Jianxiuzi slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed straight on The Old Monk, just staring like that.
...
Qin Xiaogan looked at the ruins before him with a blank expression; it was like a painting of the apocalypse, miserable and desperate.
In the ruins, corpses lay scattered everywhere; some were incomplete, while others were unrecognizable, soaked in blood.
Don't misunderstand.
This wasn't done by Qin Xiaogan.
It was already like this when he arrived.
Meanwhile, a little boy with both feet severed lay at Qin Xiaogan's feet.
The little boy had a resolute expression, biting down hard on a piece of raw meat in his mouth, his eyes seemingly ready to spit fire.
Qin Xiaogan slowly crouched down and asked the half-dead little boy.
"Why did disaster have to befall your family?"
"Why is fate so unfair?"
"Human joys and sorrows are never shared, so you must rely on your own efforts..."
"Since you suffer, then... they must cry."
The corners of Qin Xiaogan's mouth slowly curled up to his ears; the smile was eerie and twisted, as if he were looking forward to the little boy's reaction.
The little boy used all his strength to spit out the bloody meat he had bitten off the enemy.
His throat emitted a gurgling sound from excessive exertion.
"Who... are... you." Each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Qin Xiaogan reached out without a shred of pity; that slender, powerful hand gripped the little boy's injured shoulder tightly, his fingers sinking deep into the mangled flesh like iron pincers.
Immediately, the little boy let out a heartbreaking scream.
"Ah!"
The sound pierced the clouds, filled with endless pain and despair, echoing in the deathly silent ruins, chilling one to the bone.
Then, with a blank expression and a cold tone, Qin Xiaogan slowly said: "Souls, collect countless souls for me, understand?"
The little boy trembled all over from the pain, cold sweat falling like rain, yet the sparks of stubbornness still flickered in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and replied.
"I want power! My mother was harmed by villains; I need power!"
Hearing this, a strange smile gradually appeared on Qin Xiaogan's face, a smile that made one shudder.
"Very good."
Having said that.
Qin Xiaogan shot a beam of dark light from his eyes, which merged into the little boy's body at an extremely fast speed.
Soon, dark blue light erupted from the little boy's eyes, like ghost fire in the dead of night—eerie and terrifying.
His body began to tremble violently, muscles bulging, and his bones made "crack, crack" sounds.
An extremely strong pressure erupted from his whole body, spreading like surging waves, instantly blowing away the surrounding rubble and debris.
Immediately after, the little boy roared at the sky, his voice filled with pain and madness.
Qin Xiaogan crossed his arms, watching everything before him indifferently.
"What is your name?"
Hearing this, the little boy turned his head abruptly, his gaze firm and resolute: "My surname is Ying, with the single name Cheng."
His tone carried an unquestionable determination, as if this name were his final dignity and reliance.
Qin Xiaogan shrugged, a careless smile on his face, and then his body gradually became illusory, turning into a dazzling white light that instantly vanished before the little boy's eyes.
He quite liked this little boy, especially watching the look on his face when he realized, after achieving his ambitions, that everything was just a mirage.
The pain and despair brought by falling from the pinnacle of hope into the abyss of despair gave Qin Xiaogan a twisted sense of pleasure deep in his heart.
But Qin Xiaogan couldn't see it anymore, and he didn't have time to watch.
Ever since he wiped out the Xia Kingdom last time, he returned to the River of Time and discovered that everything inside had changed.
The timeline had returned to his original timeline.
So, now he had to carefully study how to go back.